Enchodelus macrodorus (de Man, 1880) Thorne, 1939

♀ (n =47): L =0.90-1.32 mm; a =17-25; b =3.8-5.5; c =32-64; V = 45-52 %

♂ (n =19): L =0.94-l.22 mm; a:20-32; b =3.6-5.3; c =32-66

intersex: L =0.99 mm; a =21; b =3.9; c =37; V =51%

The characters of the population agree fairly well with the description provided by Thorne (1939). The odontostyle length ranges between 27 and 37 μm. Tail shape is also variable, from rounded-hemispherical to bluntly conoid. A great variability was found in the number and arrangement of the preanal rnidventral supplements in males. The number ranged from 7 to 11, but the most common was 10 or 11. Also the distribution pattern of supplements along the midventral line was very variable, since they were located at a distance from each other which was sometimes regular or regularly decreasing backward, other times highly irregular. 1 or 2 supplements, in addition to the adanal pair, were within the range of spicules.

The male of E. macrodorus was described for the first time from Holland by de Man (1912), who pointed out the variability of the arrangement of supplements in different specimens. Thorne (1939) described one male (among 100 females) from Utah, which had 12 supplements regularly spaced, and expressed some doubts on the presumed variability showed by European males, suggesting that they might belong to different species. Males from Sardinia are conspecific beyond any doubt and confirm the great intraspecific variability of this character.